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10 Tips For Better Real Estate Photography

When it comes to real estate, pictures say a thousand words and they are vital to the sale of a home. The right photography can make a great first impression so you want to make sure you are taking the best photos possible. With the majority of home buyers starting their search online, you want to make sure you don’t miss this very important step in the sale of a home.

Below are 10 Tips For Better Real Estate Photography

Invest in a decent camera

One of the first things to think about when it comes to taking these types of photos is the quality. You do not need to spend thousands on a camera but you also do not want to rely on your cellphone to take pictures. It is definitely worth the investment to purchase a decent camera that is no less than 5-megapixels. These types of cameras are fairly affordable and you will get use out of it for sure. Also give thought to getting a tripod, shaky hands can really mess up a picture.

Get all your equipment ready the night before

In any profession, you need to be not only productive with how you go through your day but also prepared. Therefore, you should definitely be getting everything together the night before so that you ensure you have a more smooth experience and no surprises. Make sure your batteries are charged, your memory card is not full and that you have packed all the equipment you need. Also make note of the address so you know how much driving time you will need. If you are bringing any back-up equipment, make sure everything is charged up and working too.

Walk through the home before you start shooting

Every home is different, so you want to do a walk through first to get a feel for the space and how you want the shoot to unfold. You will get a feel for what angles you think will work best and what items need to be removed. Once finished, you will have an idea of how you want to go about photographing the home.

Make sure the home is clean and clutter free

When prospective buyers are looking at pictures of a home, they want to see the actual home and not what is in it. Therefore, make sure the house is clean and clutter free prior to snapping any photos. This gives the buyers an opportunity to envision their things in the home as opposed to seeing someone else’s. Also think about adding a splash of color to the home with flowers or artwork. You would be amazed as to what a little bit of color can do for an otherwise neutral-colored space.

Put together a photo checklist

There are certain shots you want to have when photographing a property. Here are a few:

Get at the minimum 2 wide angle shots of the kitchen, each bedroom and the living room.

1 shot of the bathrooms is usually all you need. Take more photos if the bathroom is particularly spacious and beautiful.

For the backyard, 1-3 photos should do unless there are some extra special features you want to include. The front of the home should get 1-2 shots .

The garage, laundry room, pantry can get 1 shot each.

Natural sunlight is the goal

Taking photos in natural sunlight is the ultimate goal for any professional photographer. Schedule your photo session on a sunny day and be sure to open the curtains to allow as much natural light in as possible. Stay away from shooting on a cloudy day, your photos will look dreary and you will wind up having to take them again.

Some additional hints to keep in mind

When you are photographing a room, take the picture from the doorway looking into the room.

For exterior pictures, take them at an angle that way buyers can see the depth of the house as opposed to a “flat” two-dimensional view.

Make sure to leave any obstructions like electrical wires, telephone poles, dumpsters etc, out of the picture. You do not want anything detracting from the house.

And last but not least, get snap happy. You want to take as many photos as possible that way you are sure to end up with some great shots.

Use a photo editor

Your computer typically comes with a built in photo editor. If there are any shots you love but could use some improvement, spruce them up a little to make them look as good as possible.

Copyright your photos

Whenever you post photos online you run the risk of someone stealing your work for themselves. For this reason you want to prevent that by watermarking your photos to prohibit unauthorized use. You can use a program like Visual Watermark.

Be sure to take twilight photos

Do not forget to capture twilight photos of the property as these make for amazing pictures. Capturing a sunset photo really provides a unique view of the property that really cannot be recreated.